Teaching Suffix '-s' and Suffix '-es'

Carla Miller: So we have talked about suffixes before, right?

Students: Yes.

Carla Miller: Who can tell me what a suffix is? Raise your hand. Lorelai, what's a suffix?

Lorelai: A suffix is a letter or letters that you add to a word to make it plural.

Carla Miller: A suffix is a letter or a group of letters that we add to what part of the word? Who can raise their hand and tell me what part of the word? Caroline.

Caroline: The end.

Carla Miller: You add it to the end of the word and it changes the word just a little bit. Today we're going to talk about two different suffixes. We're going to talk about suffix '-s' and suffix '-es'.

Voiceover: Knowing which suffix to use to make a word plural can be tricky for young writers. Is it '-s' or '-es'? In this lesson at Burgess-Peterson Academy in Atlanta, instructional coach Dr. Carla Miller teaches her first graders when to use each one.

Carla Miller: We're going to start with suffix '-s'. So we know when we add suffix '-s' to the end of the word, it makes a word plural, but I don't know what that word plural means. Who can help me out? Let's see. Some new hands. Clementine. What's it mean to make a word plural?

Clementine: More than one.

Carla Miller: More than one. Good. So when we could have the word cat, but when we add the suffix '-s', what does that do?

Students: Cats.

Carla Miller: Now we have more than one cat. Okay, so let's do some more.

Voiceover: After Dr. Miller models how adding '-s' makes a word plural, her students jump in to practice together.

Carla Miller: Who can read the next word for me? Charlie.

Charlie: Sock.

Carla Miller: Sock. Good. So we're going to go ahead and add suffix '-s'. Charlie, what word do we have now?

Charlie: Socks.

Carla Miller: We now have two socks. Good. Let's do the last one. Who can read the word for me? Gianna, what's the base word? What word do we have here?

Gianna: Clam.

Carla Miller: "Clam." Very good. Can you read the word now that we've added suffix '-s'?

Gianna: Clams.

Carla Miller: That's good

Voiceover: Now that they've practiced with the suffix '-s'. It's time for the next challenge — learning when to add '-es' instead.

Carla Miller: So we add suffix '-es' to a word to make a word plural. If the word ends in 'sh', 'ch', 'x', 's', or 'z'. Okay, and I have a little cheer for us. You ready for a little cheer?

Students: Yes!

Carla Miller: Okay, there we go. Okay, so the cheer goes like this, 'sh', 'ch', 'x', 's', 'z' ... add '-es' and you'll please me! We're going to do the first part first and then the second part. Let me hear you say 'sh', 'ch', 'x', 's', 'z' ... add '-es' and you'll please me! So we have a word who can raise her hand and read the word for me. I would like Lao to read the word.

Lao: Box.

Carla Miller: Box. I'm going to add suffix '-es' to that word. Lao, what did I do to that word?

Lao: Make it plural.

Carla Miller: I made it plural. What word do we have now?

Lao: Boxes.

Carla Miller: Boxes. We have more than one.

Voiceover: After a couple more examples as a group, dictation is up next. Here students will practice what they just learned, choosing the correct suffix to make a word plural. '-s' or '-es'.

Carla Miller: I'm going to remind you while we're writing these words, we're going to make a lot of these words plural. Remind me one more time. Bennett, what does it mean to make a word plural? What does it do to the word?

Bennett: Makes it more than one.

Carla Miller: It makes it more than one. So we're really going to listen for the ending sounds of words when we make them plural. Okay? So the first word I want you to write is ship. What word?

Students: Ship.

Carla Miller: Tap it.

Students: /s/, /ĭ/, /p/. Ship.

Carla Miller: Excellent. Make the word plural. Elliot, what did I need to do to make that word plural?

Elliot: Put an 's' at the end of the word.

Carla Miller: Excellent. Can you tell me why you decided to use an '-s' and not an '-es'?

Elliot: Because ship doesn't end with an 'sh', 'ch', 'x', 's', or 'z'.

Carla Miller: Excellent. Good work. Make sure yours looks like mine. Pencils down, tappers up. The word is rash. What word?

Students: Rash.

Carla Miller: Tap it.

Students: /r/, /ă/, /sh/. Rash.

Voiceover: Dr. Miller picked the word "rash" for a reason. It not only lets students decide which suffix to use, but it also opens a window to talk about word meaning, an essential component of comprehension.

Carla Miller: Before we go on, who can tell me what's a rash? Bennett?

Bennett: Rash is like a red spot on your leg and hurts a lot.

Carla Miller: Does it have to be on your leg?

Bennett: No. It can be anywhere on you, like on your arms. Anywhere.

Carla Miller: So a rash is, it's a group of red dots that you can find on your body, but rash can also mean if you do something quickly without thinking about it. Like if you make a rash decision. A rash decision. If I was at the top of that slide right there and I decided to jump off the top of the slide without thinking that it could hurt me. That would be making a rash decision. I want you to make that word plural. Ashton, what did you write? What did you add?

Ashton: '-es'.

Carla Miller: '-es'. So our choices ... we could have either added suffix '-s' or suffix '-es'. Let's think about our cheer. 'sh', 'ch', 'x', 's', 'z' When do you add '-es'?

Ashton: Because I see 'sh'.

Carla Miller: Yes. Very good. So since the word ended with that digraph, 'sh' we had to add '-es'. If your paper does not look like mine, make sure you fix it now. Next word.

Voiceover: And after the heavy lift of dictation is done, it's time for the final step of the lesson for these first graders — celebrating their work by reading what they wrote.

Carla Miller: Okay, friends, we're going to go ahead and read back. First word?

Students: Ships.

Carla Miller: Good. Next word.

Students: Rashes.

Carla Miller: Go ahead and read this one for me.

Students: Wishes. Girls ...

Carla Miller: Let's try this again. Grills. Everyone.

Students: Grills.

Carla Miller: Good.

Students: Blocks. Brushes.

Carla Miller: Very good.

Voiceover: Reading Universe is made possible by generous support from Jim and Donna Barksdale, the Hastings/Quillin Fund, an advised fund of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, the AFT, the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation, and anonymous donors. Special thanks to Burgess-Peterson Academy and Atlanta Public Schools. If you enjoyed this video, please subscribe to our YouTube channel @RUTeaching. Reading Universe is a service of WETA, Washington D.C., the Barksdale Reading Institute and First Book.

Carla Miller: I'm Dr. Carla Miller and this is Reading Universe.